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At last—Cajeiri has his young guests from the starship, three young folk entranced by weather and trees and creatures with minds of their own. It's all he dreamed of . . .

But now safety is foremost: Cajeiri's grandfather has been assassinated, hostile Assassins Guild invaded Great-uncle's house, and now Bren Cameron, paidhi-aiji, who was sent to keep the aiji's son safe, has more than the young guests on his mind. The aiji-dowager knows who's to blame for the attacks, and they're going after him.

The fact that the person responsible is in the heart of Assassins' Guild Headquarters, the most closely guarded fortress on the continent, is not going to stop her.

Bren Cameron has the pieces now, of a decades-old plot that's been threaded through Guild actions going back before his arrival on the continent, and more—he knows the person responsible is going to find out he knows, and find out within hours.

They have no choice. If they don't move, the other side will.

And the lives of the boy, the guests, the entire ruling family are at stake.

About the Author

C. J. Cherryh planned to write since the age of ten. When she was older, she learned to use a type writer while triple-majoring in Classics, Latin and Greek. At 33, she signed over her first three books to DAW and has worked with DAW ever since.

Praise for the Foreigner series: "C.J. Cherryh s splendid Foreigner seriesremains at the top of my must-keep-up reading listafter two decades. Number 14, Protector, does not disappoint.... And then there s grownup political intrigue and gunplay for the icing." Locus(forProtector) "One of the best long-running SF series in existence.... Cherryh remains one of the most talented writers in the field." Publisher's Weekly "My favorite science fiction series is C. J. Cherryh's Foreigner universe. Cherryh deftly balances alien psychology and human vanities in a character caught between being human and part of an alien race." Denver Post "There is plenty of intrigue marvelous attention to detail that makes the culture of theatevione of the most complex, multi-layered creations in science fiction .The Foreigner series is about as good as it gets so finely and densely wrought that you may end up dreaming of sable-skinned giants with gold eyes, and the silver spun delicacy of interstellar politics." SF Site "A seriously probing, thoughtful, intelligent piece of work, with more insight in half a dozen pages than most authors manage in half a hundred." Kirkus "Cherryh superbly crafts complex intrigues and alien races possessed of integrity, as well as a sense of otherness." Library Journal "A large new Cherryh novel is always welcome...a return to the anthropological science fiction in which she has made such a name is a double pleasure....Superlatively drawn aliens and characterization." Chicago Sun-Times"